Manuel has a BSc in Sociology by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and specialist training in psychometric and discourse-analytical methods. He has worked on diverse topics such as classic theoretical psychology, subjective ageing, and undergraduate and graduate students’ wellbeing using mixed quantitative and qualitative research methods. The core interest linking the diverse projects Manuel has worked in is to develop theoretical and methodological contributions to a transdisciplinary approach to social life with mixed research techniques. He has taught social theory and research methods to psychology and sociology students in Chile, developing educational instruments to promote the direct study of works by classical authors in each field.
Over the last years, Manuel has focused his work on ageing using qualitative methods within a discursive and dialogical framework. He has also worked as an assistant researcher and analyst using quantitative methods (CFA, SEM) in wellbeing studies and psychometric validations of related questionnaires in Spanish, Danish, Russian, and Swahili.
His doctoral research focuses on a discourse analytical study of ageism in political speech within the Chilean parliament.
Research topic: Discursive psychological study of ageism in political discourse
In his doctoral research, Manuel is studying ageism against older people in public, political discussions about later life issues. He is analysing Chilean parliamentary debates and newspaper argumentative texts. Manuel aims to describe the subtle forms in which political speakers compose ageist discourse employing cultural resources (e.g., commonplaces and discursive devices) and the rhetorical effects they achieve (e.g., transforming older people’s social worth and legitimising discriminatory practices). Manuel expects to complement existing research studying the ‘middle-ground’ between individual attitudes and structural inequalities, analysing how speakers (re)produce ageism as a societal and cultural system.
Manuel collaborates as an analyst and methodological advisor in projects about individual wellbeing in Chile, the UK, Denmark, Russia, and Swahili-speaking countries in Africa. He is also working as an analyst in studies about power and violence in everyday interactions in Chile and ideological aspects of older people's conversations about ageing.
- Bitran, M., Torres-Sahli, M., & Padilla, O. (2017). Validation of a Spanish questionnaire for implementing the Stanford educational framework for evaluation of clinical teachers. Investigación En Educación Médica. https://doi.org/10/gf889w
- Echeverría, G., Torres-Sahli, M., Pedrals, N., Padilla, O., Rigotti, A., & Bitran, M. (2017). Validation of a Spanish version of the mental health continuum-short form questionnaire. Psicothema, 29(1), 96–102. https://doi.org/10/gf89cf
- Haye, A., Herraz, P., Cáceres, E., Morales, R., Torres-Sahli, M., & Villarroel, N. (2018). Tiempo y memoria: Sobre la mediación narrativa de la subjetividad histórica [Time and memory: About the narrative mediation of historical subjectivity]. Revista de Estudios Sociales, 65, 22–35. https://doi.org/10/gf89xz
- Haye, A., Morales, R., Villarroel, N., & Torres-Sahli, M. (2017). Nesting forms of biographical discourse within the history of class struggle. Presented at the Conference: Social Ties and Citizenship: Interactions and Social Cohesion. The Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES) 2017 International Conference., Universidad Adolfo Ibañes, Viña del Mar, Chile.
- Haye, A., & Torres-Sahli, M. (2017). To feel is to know relations: James’ concept of stream of thought and contemporary studies on procedural knowledge. New Ideas in Psychology, 46(Supplement C), 46–55. https://doi.org/10/gbh2ww
- Koushede, V., Lasgaard, M., Hinrichsen, C., Meilstrup, C., Nielsen, L., Rayce, S. B., … Santini, Z. I. (2019). Measuring mental well-being in Denmark: Validation of the original and short version of the Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS and SWEMWBS) and cross-cultural comparison across four European settings. Psychiatry Research, 271, 502–509. https://doi.org/10/gf894r
- Torres-Sahli, M., & Meliàn, C. (2014). Articuladores del discurso sobre la vejez en adultos mayores chilenos [Articulators of discourse on ageing in Chilean older adults] (BsC thesis). M. S. Herrera, Supervisor. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.